The Philadelphia Phillies have designated 27-year old lefty reliever Brett Oberholtzer for assignment. He pitched in 26 games (0 starts) for the Phillies this year and he was 2-2 with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He gave up 58 hits (11 homers) and 20 walks while whiffing 38 batters in his 50 1/3 innings for the Phillies this year. Oberholtzer has now pitched in 71 games (42 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 13-22 with 1 save, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. I wouldn’t be surprised if some team claims Oberholtzer off waivers and uses him as a starting pitcher.

UPDATE: (8/9/2016) – The Phillies have lost Brett Oberholtzer on waivers to the Los Angeles Angels.

26-year old righty starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff is pitching well in 2016 for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has pitched in 22 games (all starts) and he is 6-12 (leads N.L. in losses) with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Eickhoff has given up 129 hits and 31 walks while whiffing 112 batters in his first 132 innings with the Phillies. Eickhoff has now pitched in 30 games (all starts) in his first two years with the Phillies and he is 9-15 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He is part of the bounty the Phillies got from the Texas Rangers as the trade deadline last year for ColeHamels.

The Philadelphia Phillies are calling up 22-year old righty starting pitcher Jake Thompson to make his Major League debut against the San Diego Padres tomorrow night. Thompson came into this season as the Phillies’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America. He was part of the return the Phillies got last July in the deal that send Cole Hamels to the Rangers. Thompson pitched in 21 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He gave up 105 hits and 37 walks while whiffing 87 batters in his 129 2/3 innings in AAA-ball this year. Thompson has now pitched in 94 games (92 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 36-22 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. The Phillies are hoping that Thompson will give them a building block for their starting rotation moving forward.

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed 28-year old righty closer Jeanmar Gomez on paternity leave. Gomez has pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 3-2 with 27 saves, a 2.72 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He has given up 44 hits and 13 walks while whiffing 32 batters in his first 49 2/3 innings for the Phillies this year. The Phillies have called up 27-year old righty reliever Michael Mariot to replace Gomez on the active roster. Mariot has pitched in 32 games (2 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 1-3 with 1 save, a 3.76 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Mariot has pitched in 19 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the show and he is 1-0 with a 6.11 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP.

The Philadelphia Phillies have called up 27-year old righty reliever/starter Phil Klein. Klein pitched in 8 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Rangers and he was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He has also pitched in 16 games (5 starts) in AAA-ball for the Phillies and Rangers this year in which he is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He has now pitched in 36 games (2 starts) in his first three years in the show and he is 2-3 with a 4.80 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.

UPDATE: (8/4/2016) – Klein has been sent to AAA. He started last night for the Phillies and he got a no decision. He worked 5 innings allowing 8 hits, 4 runs (all earned) and 1 walk while whiffing 3 batters.

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed 23-year old righty starting pitcher Aaron Nola on the 15-day disabled list due to a sprained right elbow. Nola has pitched in 20 games (all starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 6-9 with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has given up 116 hits and 29 walks while whiffing 121 batters in his 111 innings pitched this year. He has now pitched in 33 games (all starts) in his first two years with the Phillies and he is 12-11 with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. The Phillies might be smart to just shut Nola down for the year as he is a big part of their future plans.

The Philadelphia Phillies have designated 32-year old righty reliever Andrew Bailey for assignment. Bailey pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Phillies this year and he was 3-1 with a 6.40 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He gave up 32 hits (6 homers), walked 15 batters and he whiffed 33 batters in his 32 1/3 innings for the Phillies this year. The Phillies have called up 29-year old righty reliever Luis Garcia to replace Bailey on the active roster. Garcia has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He has now pitched in 111 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Phillies and he is 6-7 with 2 saves, a 3.99 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. The Phillies won’t miss Bailey moving forward.

23-year old righty swinging 3B Maikel Franco is the player that the Philadelphia Phillies are going to build their future team around. He has played in 100 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 94 of 376 (.250 avg, .751 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 19 homers and 59 RBIs. Franco is leading the Phillies in both homers and RBIs and he is also tied for second (with Freddy Galvis) in runs scored so far this year. He has a big time month of July for the Phillies, playing in 26 games in which he is 27 of 100 (.270 avg, .791 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 6 homers and 18 RBIs. Franco has now played in 196 games in his first three years with the Phillies and he is 189 of 736 (.257 avg, .762 OPS) with 89 runs scored, 33 homers, 114 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Franco is the rare power hitter today that doesn’t whiff a lot (138 so far in his career), so I look for him to hit for a much higher batting average in the near future. The sky is literally the limit for Franco!

It’s time for the Philadelphia Phillies to pull the plug on 36-year old lefty swinging 1B Ryan Howard. I know that he is a Phillies’ legend, but enough is enough. He is in the final year of a 5-year, $125 million deal. They aren’t going to bring him back next year, so why let him take ABs away from 25-year old righty swinging Tommy Joseph? Howard has played in 76 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 36 of 220 (.164 avg, .594 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 14 homers and 30 RBIs. He has also whiffed 78 times against 17 walks so far this year for the Phillies. It almost hurts to watch him play right now, as is a shell of his former self. Joseph has played in 57 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 50 for 191 (.262 avg, .818 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 14 homers, 26 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has whiffed 47 times so far this year against only 9 walks. The Phillies are a rebuilding team, so why not see what Joseph can do while playing everyday at 1B for the rest of the season. I would release Ryan Howard, pronto!

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed 29-year old righty swinging outfielder Peter Bourjos on the 15-day disabled list due to a sprained right shoulder. Bourjos has played in 93 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 71 of 281 (.253 avg, .674 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 4 homers, 20 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. To replace Bourjos on the active roster, the Phillies have activated 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Aaron Altherr off the 60-day D.L. Altherr played in 13 games in Rookie+A+AA+AAA-ball on his rehab assignment this year and he was 14 of 41 (.341 avg, .944 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has played in 41 games in his first two years with the Phillies and he is 33 of 142 (.233 avg, .799 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 5 homers, 22 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Altherr is a guy the Phillies have high hopes for.